HOT TOPICS:

Minnesota Vikings hit hard by NFL lockout

Timing of this NFL work stoppage couldn't be much worse for Frazier and the Vikings

By Jeremy Fowler jfowler@pioneerpress.com

Posted:
03/29/2011 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
03/29/2011 09:44:22 AM CDT

Entering his first full season as the Vikings head coach, Leslie Frazier, left, doesn t need the distraction of an offseason lockout, but he isn t making any excuses. The uncertain labor situation also could affect the futures of free agents Sidney Rice, top, and Ray Edwards, bottom, as well as Chad Greenway, middle, whose signed tender could be superseded by a new collective bargaining agreement. (Pioneer Press photo illustration)

The Vikings could end up one of the biggest losers in the dispute between NFL players and owners over how to share $9 billion.

With a head coach entering his first full season and needing time to install new schemes, with 18 players still facing free agency and no franchise quarterback or experienced stopgap on the roster, the timing couldn't be worse for a lockout.

To say nothing of the need for a new stadium to be approved — fast.

"Everybody is going to be operating under the same circumstance ... you don't want to make any excuses," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "So in our mind, we're approaching it like there's going to be football and we've got to make sure that we're doing what we can do within the parameters of whatever the league allows us to do. And when we get ready to go, we'll be ready to go."

ON-FIELD IMPACT

Seven months ago, the Vikings were considered a Super Bowl contender because all 22 starters were returning from a 12-4 team that lost the NFC championship game in overtime.

But injuries, age and underwhelming performances contributed to a 6-10 season that has forced the Vikings to rebuild at several positions, a process that will be challenged by the uncertainty facing free agency.

"I think Minnesota has more needs than they actually think they have," NFL Network analyst Michael Lombardi, a former personnel executive with the Raiders and Browns, said at the NFL scouting combine in February. "The Vikings' misconception is they weren't as good defensively as they thought.

Advertisement

They are older on defense, and they obviously need to fix their quarterback."

According to a Feb. 10 ESPN.com report, the players' union listed the Vikings as tied for fifth in the league in potential unrestricted free agents. With quarterback Brett Favre apparently retired for good, the team's top free-agent priority was keeping linebacker Chad Greenway, a restricted free agent, who had a franchise tag placed on him. Greenway later signed a tender, meaning he will earn about $10 million for 2011.

The Vikings prevented another departure by signing defensive end Brian Robison, also a restricted free agent, to a three-year, $14.1 million deal.

Minnesota tried to limit the options of a half-dozen other restricted free agents by offering them tenders — although a new collective bargaining agreement could supersede those — not to mention Greenway's signed tender. The highest-profile player among the six is former Pro Bowl wide receiver Sidney Rice.

The quarterback fallback is Joe Webb, who was drafted in the sixth round last year as a wide receiver. Webb showed his athleticism and potential in a prime-time upset of Philadelphia, but he remains a project.

The Vikings are expected to draft a quarterback next month, possibly in one of the first two rounds. But with all their needs and potential losses — and with their third-round pick sacrificed in the trade for Randy Moss — it will be difficult for them to rebuild solely through the draft.

This would mark the second straight year that labor issues have hamstrung the Vikings. Because last season was uncapped, league semifinalists could only sign free agents to replace ones they lost. Minnesota tried to sign LaDainian Tomlinson after third-down back Chester Taylor went to Chicago, but the New York Jets got him. Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd didn't survive the preseason, and cornerback Lito Sheppard only saw spot duty when healthy.

"We still have good pieces in place that will help weather the storm of a lockout once we do start to play again," Robison said. "Even though there will be some new parts, I still really like the makeup of this team."

The roster still has stability at a handful of positions, with playmakers such as running back Adrian Peterson, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and wide receiver Percy Harvin as well as former defensive Pro Bowl players such as linemen Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield.

The NFL normally gives a first-year head coach an additional offseason workout session to acclimate players and staff to a new system, but a lockout could prevent that. The Vikings do have an advantage in that Frazier, last season's interim coach for six games, was the team's defensive coordinator from 2007-10. Although new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave must implement a new system, defensive coordinator Fred Pagac was the team's linebackers coach and then the de facto coordinator for the final six games and likely will keep the 4-3 defense intact.

As with the Metrodome collapse and the Philadelphia snowstorm during his interim coaching stint, Frazier plans to handle the lockout with a calculated calm.

"I promise you whatever happens, we're going to try to make it work," he said.

THE STADIUM ISSUE

You can't assess the lockout's effect on the Vikings without addressing the stadium. The team's lease with the Metrodome ends Feb. 1, 2012.

Does that mean the lockout will affect discussions by legislators over whether taxpayers should help pay for a new facility? It depends on whom you ask.

"It certainly shouldn't," Ted Mondale, Gov. Mark Dayton's point man for ushering a stadium plan through the Legislature, said earlier this month. "We're trying to solve a 30-year problem, and I don't think the NFL is going away.

"It could give certain legislators an excuse not to take it to a vote, but I think those legislators would not have supported a bill either way."

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Geoff Michel, an Edina Republican, said the NFL's labor woes definitely could have an effect at the Capitol.

"Yeah, I think there will be members who'll have questions about what's going on in the short term with the NFL," he said earlier this month, emphasizing that balancing the state's budget was the top priority and there had been "zero caucus discussion" about the stadium.

The lawmakers likely to introduce a bill — State Sen. Julie Rosen, a Fairmont Republican, and state Rep. Morrie Lanning, a Moorhead Republican — have kept specifics on their intentions quiet.

The Vikings have stopped short of threatening to leave Minnesota if they can't get a new stadium approved, instead expressing their desire to get a deal done in this session. They do not want to extend their lease with the Metrodome, where the revenue produced is among the NFL's lowest and last season's roof collapse helped raise the level of debate over a new home.

Seventeen inches of mid-December snow caused the cave-in and forced the Vikings to move their final two home games. The Metrodome is spending $17.9 million to replace its roof in time for the 2011 exhibition and regular seasons that might never be played.

If there is no deal for a new stadium, Los Angeles could become a factor, but the Vikings aren't alone in being vulnerable.

Sports Illustrated senior writer and NBC analyst Peter King said the Vikings and San Diego Chargers have "parallel situations" when it comes to potential relocation. The Chargers also likely will need strong political backing to stay where they are beyond 2012.

Even if Minnesota's Legislature approves public funds for a new stadium, the Vikings might need a financial assist from the NFL for their portion of the bill. The league's G3 fund that helps fund new stadiums has dried up, though, since the league helped construct two new stadiums (one for the Dallas Cowboys, one for the New York Jets and Giants) and renovate another (for the Kansas City Chiefs).

Owners are expected to push for more stadium funds to be included in the new CBA, but that could take time the Vikings might not have.

Vice president of stadium development Lester Bagley said he gets the impression NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't want to leave the Vikings in the cold on stadium finances.

"It's a fair question from legislators and the public because it's a healthy game and we want to see it continue," Bagley said. "We're trying to solve a long-term, 30-year or next-generation (deal), get this issue resolved, and we're making significant progress. We can't afford to set the stadium issue aside."